Dan’s Bourbon of the Week: Calumet Farm

Ahh, What a bittersweet weekend. The name of this blog may be “baseball and bourbon,” but if you’ve read a few posts, you know that I am equally a football fan. Last night, my college – the University of Missouri – lost a nail-biter of a game in double overtime to South Carolina. This hurt as Missouri was in fifth place in the BCS, and could have been headed for a national title chance. When I woke up this morning, the loss still lingered. But with the Detroit Lions playing Dallas at 1 o’clock, and a new bourbon to try, hope sprung eternal.

The Detroit Lions. Oh what an exasperating team they can be. In my 36 years on this earth, I have been able to witness one playoff win. Optimism has been high this season, and the Lions have responded by playing the style of up and down, win one lose one football they have played most of my life. Today’s game against the Cowboys seemed particularly important, as losing would definitely move them to the far edges of the playoff picture.

The game was thrilling, but the ending…what an ending. Taking the ball 80 yards in less than a minute, with quarterback Matt Stafford diving in to score the winning touchdown with mere seconds on the clock: amazing. So maybe my newly uplifted spirits guided my review of this weeks selection, the Calumet Farm bourbon. But like the Lions, this drink was sweet.

Dan's Bourbon of the Week: Calumet Farms — Dan’s Bourbon of the Week: Calumet Farm

My take: Calumet Farm comes courtesy of a recommendation (like many of my selections) from the guys at Kakos in Birmingham, MI. It’s a newer bourbon line, with the name from a farm well known for it’s Kentucky Derby winning steeds. I do not know the source of Calumet Farms, and it has no age statement. This one was right up my alley.

The nose was sweet – vanilla, corn, caramel.

The taste is a little thin, but full of butterscotch, vanilla, caramel,charred oak and a slight, white pepper. It didn’t taste like an older bourbon, so my guess is that it’s 6 years or under. But it was still flavorful and smooth.
And the finish – absolutely delicious, sweet and so very smooth. I actually had more than my usual first tasting because it was so smooth. I should mention Jen found it a bit bitter, and she is less of a fan of smooth than I am (she likes single barrels more, where I am a bigger fan of blends).

I feel weird saying this about a bourbon that is so new on the scene, but I loved it.

Dan scale (1-10): 8.7

*Update – I have since been told that Calumet Farm Bourbon was a very limited run, and will probably not be available again after this year. If you’ve heard something different, please let me know. Otherwise, best gettn’ while the gettin’ s good!

Dan’s Bourbon of the Week: Early Times 354 Bourbon

This was a pretty cruddy day. Last night, the Detroit Tigers lost the ALCS to the Boston Red Sox, those grungy, prospector-looking bums from Beantown. It was a heartbreaker too – another late grand slam, base-running bloopers by Prince Fielder, more bullpen implosions. Then, just for good measure, the Lions choked away a game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Brutal. It’s only fitting that I sampled a brutal bourbon as well.

This week, I tried another selection recommended for me by my favorite bourbon store here in Michigan, but the results left something to be desired.

The Early Times 354 is a re-entry into the United States market. Early Times was apparently the most popular bourbon in the US in the 1950s, and was (and is) wildly popular in Japan. In sampling it, I couldn’t help but feel it was a throwback to the rougher and tougher standards people had before the more recent small batch, single barrel preference was made.

All of that is a nice way of saying that, as a sipper, Early Times burned. It’s nose was harsh and primarily alcohol – I had to hold it for some time and at a further than normal distance to get a feeling for the notes of corn, cereals and a hint of spices. The taste I had a much more difficult time discerning. The alcohol was so strong, despite it’s being under hundred proof, that there wasn’t a lot of room for flavor. The finish was something out of an old western, where the hero takes a slug of the whiskey in the tavern and grunts. A slow, long burn.

The rest of this bottle will be mixed with Coke for parties, where it will harm no one.

Dan’s Bourbon of the Week: Penny Packer 80 proof Bourbon

It’s great times. The Tigers are in the ALCS, the Lions have a winning record, and my main men Joe and Giovanni from Kakos Liquor have advised me of a few new bourbons to give a taste to. The first one, which I took for a test drive this week, is Penny Packer 80 Proof.

Produced in Kentucky, bottled in Germany. I’m not sure how that is remotely close to a good business model, but the amazing thing here is the price point: $18. That means a fifth is cheaper than Beam or Jack. But is it as good? Sort of.

Smooth, vaguely sweet. Sips well, with hints of caramel and vanilla. No overpowering elements. Very clean finish. Not on par with the greats (a little bland) but no shame in it either, and I would think it would be great for bourbon mix drinks.

Dan scale (1-10): 7.3

Dan’s Bourbon of the Week: Smooth Ambler Old Scout 7 year

And so it was that I found myself on the highway for a weekend of travel to the our-burbs of Philadelphia and back, to venture to that most strange of environments: my wife’s high school class reunion. Not just any reunion either, but her sixteenth class reunion (her class did not have the more traditional ten or even fifteen year event). A night of merriment with strangers whose sole connection is the tenuous relationship they ~~have~~ had with my spouse so long ago that had a child been born on the day of their last commiseration, said kid would be preparing for college themselves. And atop that, it was on the night of game two of the ALDS is which the Tigers were playing the perpetually underdog Oakland A’s. If ever there was cause for bourbon, this may be it.

Much to my surprise, this is not how events went down. The reunion itself was quite pleasant and low-key, and I was introduced to several wonderful people I may not otherwise have met. I found myself engaged in conversation with some truly interesting individuals, whose acquaintance I am pleased to have made. Most importantly, my wife enjoyed herself thoroughly, and got to see many old friends. And as a bonus,the event was at a sports bar, so I still got to see the game, even though a 1-0 loss was hardly what I wished for.

On the way back on Sunday, we stopped at a Pennsylvania liquor store, to pick up some new spirits. One that caught my eye was the Smooth Ambler Old Scout 7 Year, from West Virginia. A quick bit of research online told me that initial reviews were good, and that it would make a good Sunday drinker. I picked up a bottle, and rambled on.

We headed west to visit with my mother-in-law in southern Pennsylvania, bottle in tow, and took a scenic drive through the Pennsylvania countryside. The sky was blue and the day was a beaut. When we finally arrived at her house, we gathered with more family in anticipation of a well-cooked meal, and broke open the bourbon. Myself, Jen, her mother, her aunt and her grandmother (!) all poured a glass of the Smooth Ambler. We were pleased.

My take: The Smooth Ambler 7 year has a punch right out of the bottle. At 99 proof, that is to be expected – the nose has some serious first-take burn. Then, the alcohol gave way to earth tones, particularly rye, as well as cinnamon, nuts, oak and even a bit of mint.

The taste was loud and proud. It starts with sweet spots of honey, charred sugar and caramel, and transitions to a pepper and apple rye. And there’s that mint again.

The finish is long and hinted of coffee and more pepper. Finally, a cinnamon and oak wash come over, as the finish dissipates.

This is a nice bourbon. I enjoyed the rye characteristics, but I’ll admit it had a bit too much spice for my taste profile. My wife, however, really liked it, as did my in-laws. Therefore, my rating…

Dan scale (1-10): 8.4

Dan’s Bourbon of the Week: Smugglers’ Notch Straight Bourbon Whiskey

A few months back, my wife and my good friend Ben Johnson came in to visit from Vermont. His company would have been gift enough, but he did us one better: he brought with him a Vermont bourbon named Smuggler’s Notch. Jen and I sampled it then, but now that the blog is up and running, we went back and tried it again, to see if our initial feelings were the same. They were – it is great!

Smugglers Notch looks a little lighter than most in color, and to be honest, it is a little lighter. But something about it is so fresh and clean tasting, it is truly unique.

The nose is sweet and has notes of vanilla, corn, grains and nuts. The taste, Smooth (with a capital “S”), with a bit of spice but more notably, vanilla, chocolate, even a tiny bit of mint. The finish is relatively short, but with something this smooth, I say just pour another.

Smugglers Notch moves into my top 5. Delicious.

Dan scale (1-10): 8.8

Dan’s Bourbon of the Week: Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel, Warehouse Liquor (Chicago, IL)

This week’s bourbon and circumstances are pretty special. I am in Chicago to celebrate my first wedding anniversary to my wife Jen. We’re here for a long weekend, and living it up – hotel in the loop, meals at great restaurants like Everest and the Signature Room. Perhaps most fantastic, we’ve gone to two days of Riot Fest, an outdoor music festival at Chicago’s Humboldt Park featuring some of my all-time favorite bands, including (most importantly), the first American concert by The Replacements since 1991.

On Friday, we went to US Cellular Field and saw a White Sox-Indians game, which I will detail further in the future. Then, it was to Everest, where I knew we were going to have a wonderful meal when the drink list included my all-time favorite bourbon, Jefferson Reserve 18 Year. Saturday, it was all day at Riot Fest, where we took in Mephiskaphales, X, The Selecter, Dinosaur Jr, Guided By Voices, Blondie, Rancid and The Violent Femmes. Set after set, we had a fantastic time on a uncloudy, beautiful day. Jen was particularly fond of DeVotchka, a great gypsy-latin-eastern-european band that put on a particularly wonderful performance. It’s not everyday you get to see the hora danced at a punk rock festival! We closed the night on a Ferris Wheel, watching the Femmes perform their first album in it’s entirety. It was a wonderful day.

Day three was wet. Wet and rainy. We had a delicious brunch at the Signature Room, then we headed to Warehouse Liquors, which Yelp had advised us was one of the best bourbon shops in Chicago. Yelp told no lies – this store is truly fantastic. Their selection of liquors – not just bourbons – was amazing, and with so many new sights and bottles to choose from, it was hard to pick one. After chatting with the man at the counter for at least one half hour, we settled on a bottle of Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel, selected by and bottled for the store.

Back to Riot Fest, and the rain. Bob Mould has been one of my favorite musicians for many many years – since his days in Husker Du and Sugar – so it was well worth getting a little wet to see a personal legend play. Best Coast was another new band I wanted to see and despite the cold and rain, they did not disappoint with their reverb drenched surfer songs. Then, back to a rollicking set by Rocket From The Crypt. We decided to stay at the Replacements stage to guarantee a good vantage point, so we watched the goth-punky AFI before the rain stopped, and The Replacements utterly rocked our world. They played a set drawn from their whole repertoire, old to new. So many of my favorites were played I couldn’t have been more pleased, from “Bastards of Young” to “Achin To Be,” “Hold My Life,” and “Takin A Ride.” And all of it with my beautiful wife by my side. It couldn’t have been better.

Dan's Bourbon of the Week: Elmer T. Glee Single Barrel, Warehouse Liquor (Chicago, IL) — Dan’s Bourbon of the Week: Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel, Warehouse Liquor (Chicago, IL)

Now, for the bourbon – the nose on this bourbon is full of rich, aromatic spices. Cinnamon, allspice, apples, it has it all.

The taste follows this with a spicy punch. Tasty, and clean, this is a great bourbon. Pepper, oak char, that cinnamon, and a bit of vanilla helps with a long finish to boot. This is the kind of bourbon my wife particularly likes. We did notice one unique thing though, neither of us liked the changes adding ice chips made to it. Instead of mellowing it a bit, it made the pepper pop more, and lost some of the sweeter notes. Still, an absolute winner.

Dan scale (1-10): 8.3

Blondie at Riot Fest

Mephiskaphales at Riot Fest

Yes, its a butter sculpture of John Stamos

Jen and I for our 1st anniversary

Jen and I enjoy US Cellular Field

X at Riot Fest

The Selecter at Riot Fest

DeVotchka at Riot Fest

Bob Mould at Riot Fest

The Replacements at Riot Fest!!!

Dan’s Bourbon of the Week: Elijah Craig 12 Year Small Batch

Well, a new NFL football season is upon us, and I’m an unrepentant Detroit Lion’s fan, so who knows what this year holds in store. The team hasn’t looked great in preseason, but adding Reggie Bush in the offseason can’t help but make us better, and we still have Stafford, Suh and Megatron, so I suppose hope springs eternal!

For this week’s bourbon, I tapped a local resource. A few years back, when I decided to take my bourbon fandom up a notch, my family jumped in to help me try to find some good selections. In her endless calling around, my mother stumbled upon a store in Birmingham, MI called Kakos Market. The people at Kakos were wonderful, talking with her for long periods of time and making recommendations for other bourbons that might fit her son’s flavor profile. They pointed her toward some absolute winners, which I will reference at another time.

I dropped into Kakos myself last week, looking for a few specialty bottles, and while in the store, they showed their own small batch barrel of Elijah Craig 12 year. I had a taste in the store, and took a bottle home for myself, to try today.

Every once in a while it happens where I can taste a good bourbon, know it’s a good bourbon, but just not feel it myself. This is exactly what happened here.

My take: This is a spicy bourbon. The nose was full of autumnal scents – apple, corn, nutmeg – a lot of fruit and nuts. And wood, lets of wood.

The taste carried this over. The flavor popped with spicy oak, corn and fruit. It fills the mouth, and has a pleasant taste, but as you may know by now, I like sweeter bourbons, and this one has some burn. It’s dry, and has a long, strong finish.

I know it’s a quality bourbon, but (and maybe it was just my mood that day) it was too harsh for me.

Dan scale (1-10): 7.0

Dan’s Bourbon of the Week: Blanton’s Single Barrel

Ahhh, Blanton‘s. This is the granddaddy of the Single Barrel bourbon craze. They started releasing it in single barrel form in the 1980s, and it is still produced from barrels in Buffalo Trace warehouse H. One of the cool things about Blanton’s is it’s unique bottle, and the tops. There are eight different horses on the top of Blanton’s bottles, representing a jockey and horse coming to the gate, running a race, and winning – how very Kentucky! I picked up this bottle from the Buffalo Trace Distillery when we were there in June. It didn’t disappoint.

Dan's Bourbon of the Week: Blanton's Single Barrel (Barrel no. 328, 5-9-13). The granddaddy of the single barrel bourbons. — Dan’s Bourbon of the Week: Blanton’s Single Barrel (Barrel no. 328, 5-9-13). The granddaddy of the single barrel bourbons.

The nose was fantastic – corn, apples, cinnamon, rye, and a hint of…apricot? But the taste – so smooth, so clean. It’s has a nice mouth coat – soft and buttery. It’s got a bit of wood char bitterness, but is as smooth as almost any I’ve tasted. You can taste the corn, and there’s a sweet detection of summer fruits, like apples.

The finish is mild, not overwhelming. I love this bourbon.

Dan scale (1-10): 9.3

Dan’s Bourbon of the Week: Woodford Reserve Masters Collection Four Wood

Sometimes the most fun a bourbon enthusiast can have is hunting down a hard to find libation. Now, obviously this can stop being fun and get to frustrating when it’s a Pappy Van Winkle. But when it’s something still obtainable, the thrill of the hunt is on!

This summer, I have heard from several people how the Woodford Reserve Masters Collection ‘Four Wood’ release was both hard to find, and terribly mediocre. I scouted out a few stones, but couldn’t seem to find it here in Michigan, so I went to the next level. The state of Pennsylvania state controls all liquor sales, and state-runs the stores (rather than independent retailers). On top of that, they have a great, robust web site and mobile app so that you can easily purchase your booze online. I searched, and quickly found the elusive Four Wood, and the game was afoot. Only one problem – they don’t ship to Michigan. How to solve this? Well… my wife is a former Pennsylvanian, a native of the Philly suburbs. And her mother, my mother-in-law, still lives there. Even more serendipitous, she was coming to spend some time with us this very weekend. So, I purchased the bottle online and shipped it to her! It took a bit of convincing that she wasn’t breaking any laws in bringing it to me, but a two hour plane ride later, and here she (and said bottle) is!

Now this is an oddball. Matured in oak and finished in maple wood and wine barrels, this selection takes the finishing process to a new level. Which is exactly what made it less popular with bloggers on the interwebs – it was described as a schizophrenic flavor profile, too wildly veering between tastes to be satisfying. Would I agree?

My take: Yes, the naysayers are right…sort of. It had a very strong nose and a loooong, strong finish, but a few too many flavors keeps it from having a clear taste profile. Fun for a try, but not as nice as other Woodfords.

Dan scale (1-10): 7.4

Dan’s Bourbon of the Week: Grand Traverse Distillery Bourbon

Last Christmas, I received a gift from my sister Denise that keeps on giving. The Grand Traverse Distillery in Traverse City, Michigan produces a great line of spirits, many of which I have had the opportunity to try before. In particular, their Cherry Whiskey is a favorite of mine, sweet and smooth. But for this week, it is the Grand Traverse Distillery Bourbon that tempts my palate.

The Grand Traverse Bourbon is a higher percentage of corn – 70% – than I usually like, but it is aged for 3 years and 3 months, and according to their website, “blended to 92 proof with Pure Michigan glacial water from the Great Lakes without cold filtering it.”If that sounds refreshing, it should, because this bourbon is, but it drinks like a tough old gal too.

My take: Grand Traverse does a fine job with this bourbon. The nose has tang, with hints of cigar box, corn, oak char and cinnamon. The taste is very similar, a smoky wide flavor with a smooth medium finish. Notes of vanilla, oak and a good amount of corn are present, and the finish is crisp.

The downside is that, while it is smooth, it’s not as flavorful as our Kentucky friends. Still, a quality selection, and Michigan made.

Dan scale (1-10): 7.6

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Tag: Bourbon whiskey